Southern Company (SO) unit installs microgrids to harden rural New Mexico against wildfires and storms

Southern Company unit installs microgrids to harden rural New Mexico against wildfires and storms

Southern Company’s PowerSecure is building three community microgrids with Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC) in Northern New Mexico to strengthen resilience to wildfires and extreme weather. The under‑construction sites at Taos Ski Valley, El Rito West and Penasco integrate battery energy storage systems (BESS) totaling 7.5 MW and 38.25 MWh of storage. The systems are designed to sustain critical local loads during public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) and extended outages, while improving local reliability and emergency response capabilities.

PowerSecure, a Southern Company subsidiary with more than two decades of microgrid experience, brings operational scale to the project, which builds on the unit’s portfolio of more than 2 gigawatts of microgrid capacity nationwide. Company officials say the microgrids enable KCEC to island portions of the distribution network to keep essential services powered — such as medical, water and communications infrastructure — when transmission or central generation is disrupted. Jim Smith, president of PowerSecure, says the collaboration underscores the company’s focus on delivering “innovative grid resilience solutions” for rural utilities facing climate‑driven risks.

KCEC emphasizes the local benefits of pairing storage with distributed assets to reduce vulnerability to catastrophic events and to diversify the cooperative’s energy mix. Luis A. Reyes, KCEC CEO, says the partnership advances microgrid and battery storage technology “to ensure reliable, sustainable power for members and to safeguard Northern New Mexico communities.” The systems are also sized to support extended operations and to help smooth renewable generation and reduce peak demand when tied to the broader grid.

Local operations and workforce

The partners plan community engagement and workforce training so local personnel can operate and maintain the microgrids, ensuring operational benefits persist beyond construction. Training and local maintenance are intended to boost emergency coordination and create a replicable model for other rural cooperatives.

Industry implications

Beyond immediate resilience, the project demonstrates how dispatchable storage can optimize renewable integration and help reduce reliance on centralized generation, offering a template for utilities and cooperatives seeking distributed energy solutions to climate‑related reliability challenges.